April in Her Eyes
by maravelous
Summary: AU; I didn't care much for the world, until I saw it in her eyes. — ShikaTema ; For Tara
1. North

**A/N:** A new story! Based off of a Haiku collection made by yours truly. Will be short - only 4 chapters long - , sweet, and ShikaTema. Enjoy! ;)  
**Dedicated To:** Sand-Jounin-Temari, for being an awesome friend and an amazing writer. ShikaTema FTW!  
**Disclaimer: **Characters belongs to Kishi.  
**Copyright: **April in Her Eyes (The Haiku Collection) © xmarachanx (Mara).

**--**

April in Her Eyes -  
_She is gentle spring._  
_She is silent breezy days,_  
_and pale yellow sun._

--

I hated spring. I knew I was probably among the one percent that did, but I couldn't deny it.

There were two logical reasons for this unexplained hatred.

One, it was the time of year when the bugs came out at my home town of Troy, Michigan. Not that I was afraid of bugs. No, it was a woman's fear, and that was exactly why I hated the little creatures. My mother was absolutely terrified of 'em. Now I'd never understood how females could find something they could kill with one finger so horrific, but my mother would not take questioning for an answer if ever she happened to see one crawling it's way along the ceiling, casting a long shadow from the lights of it's tall thread-thin legs, screaming at me to kill it. She would make me go to all ends to do the deed, even standing on the freshly cleaned kitchen table if necessary.

Two, Spring Break. I was an antisocial prick, and I wasn't afraid to admit it. I didn't enjoy trying to fit in with the idiotic High School kids that didn't care about anything, you know, all of them. But people seemed to like me still for some reason, which was how I acquired through impossible means, a best friend in my long tedious years of High School. Chouji Akimichi, an overweight boy in my homeroom that insisted since freshman year I come along with him on his awkward trips to even more awkward places during those one and a half weeks of school we were set free from hours of bending over ruining our spinal chords by studying notes that would never help us in the future.

This year, his idea of a relaxing vacation was dragging me along to Hawaii.

Not the place I was looking for. Not the place I expected to meet _her_. But things seemed to happen to me that I did not expect, so nonetheless, life went on, and the world kept spinning; although to me, it seemed it spun the wrong way.

--

"I can't wait to get this party started."

I had to wonder if there was a worse way to lighten me up. I glared at Chouji next to me in the taxi cab, or what I could see of him; the windows were impossibly tinted. I hated it when taxi's had tinted windows. I didn't mind the sun, I preferred looking out to see the clouds, the sky. "Don't say anything like that again unless you want me to hurt you," I threatened.

It didn't seem to mean much, for Chouji just laughed carelessly and continued munching on his bag of Doritos. He was obsessed with chips. Barbeque chips were his favorite, actually. And I was only assuming because he ate them all the time; under his desk at school, while we were walking to the library to study and do our homework, at his house, at my house, and of course on vacation. No, _especially_ on vacation; on vacation, he went wild and ate whatever he could, whatever was in sight.

"I don't know why you're dragging me out here," I muttered, looking at the black windows that _could _have been deep, sky blue.

"How do I enjoy pissing you off, let me count the ways," Chouji said, and I groaned as he pulled a hand out of the Doritos bag with a crunch and held up one powder-coated finger. "One; almost everyone from our class is going. Two; Hawaii is, like, the dream vacation and we're lucky enough that my dad owns a hotel here and can afford to drag us over. Three; Shiho's going, who seems to be hitting on you, so I'd really like to hook you two together." I rolled my eyes. Shiho, from one class under me; she kept asking me for help when I obviously didn't want to give it. I'd oblige, although reluctantly, amidst her squeals of delight. Chouji insisted she was hitting on me. I called it annoying. "Five; it's our senior year, and our last chance to have some fun for once. And four; it's my damn _birthday_."

I sighed. "Yeah, yeah…" Chouji was turning eighteen in the few days we'd be here, so I was supposed to come along with him and do what he called 'being a good friend'. So being a good friend meant tagging along behind him like a baby duck? Being a good friend meant buying a present at the last minute which Chouji would call a 'souvenir' anyways? That wasn't being a good friend, that was buttering up the other to make them as happy as a clam.

I yawned, tired. The plane ride was long, probably; I'd slept half the way here. The taxi ride, even longer, it seemed, but probably because I couldn't sleep; there were no windows. It was a strange deal with me. If I was anywhere without windows, I would be restless and stiff. I felt enclosed, trapped. I liked places where I could see the sky, the sun, the clouds…

"We're here," the driver said glumly. Figured the driver of a tinted taxi would be dark and emotionless himself. I said nothing in scorn and escaped his black domain to a world that consumed me in colors.

Yes, the first thing that came to my mind when I saw Hawaii was 'colorful'. We'd chosen a cheap hotel right by the beach (there were many of those but ours seemed superior to the other cheap shacks, fortunately enough), so there was a lot of activity.

People were predictably tan, here. Their hair was dark and long, coarse, their eyes outlined thickly. They all had accents – sharp, but pleasant and organic to listen to. They walked about the sand (there was barely any cement), talking to each other, as if they were all close and all knew about the other. There were tourists that shined out from the natives like sore thumbs, and the natives ignored them completely as if they were everyday scenery.

They weren't cliché Hawaii, however. We were on Kauai, one of the less popular islands of Hawaii, near Kawakini. Even the 'natives' wore American-style clothing. And they were all of different decent, just like you could find in America. They probably didn't get _too _many tourists around here, but they seemed to get their fair share, or else they were just insanely open-minded, because no one stared at us as we got our things from the trunk of the taxi.

As I looked around, shifting my bag on my shoulder, I noticed Chouji staring at the hotel, looking a little confused. I glanced at him, shading my eyes from the sun, which was bright and extremely hot. "Something wrong?"

"This hotel is named _Inuzuka's_, not _Akimichi's_…" Chouji was saying distractedly.

I blinked and looked to the sign on the front of it, seeing he was right. "You're telling me the taxi dropped us off at the wrong hotel…?" I asked slowly.

"…I think so…"

And _that_ was when we noticed the cab driving off, both turned around to stare after it, and chanted simultaneously, "Shit."

--

"Damn it! What a freakin' vacation _this _is starting out to be, huh Shikamaru? I wonder what it's gonna be like on my _birthday_!"

I could find no words to express my reply to that as we trudged under the hot sun along the sidewalk, lugging along our heavy suitcases. It was a tight little town we'd landed in, with houses lining the sidewalk, children playing in the sand for the beaches that surrounded us in the distance. Chouji said his father's hotel was probably a little farther to the south, so he led our way, cursing the driver as we went. I told myself I should have figured someone like that would have dropped us off at the wrong stop. Shady guys with sunglasses could never be expected to actually, well, fit in with society somewhat.

"I mean, does he have any _sense_?" Chouji continued to rant. "He could get fired in a snap if someone – Whoa-ho-ho, look at _those_."

The first thought that came to my mind had something to do with females, and I was about to tell him to take his perverted, useless dreams elsewhere when I saw what he was _really_ ogling over.

"…Cakes…?"

Cakes. Chocolate, vanilla, lemon, cookie dough, you name it, lined up behind the glass of a window in a small pastry shop we passed called _Ayame's_.

Chouji looked about ready to pop with pleasure. He turned to me with a dark look on his face as if he was telling me a terrible secret. "Okay, Shikamaru. There are three things going through my head right now, and I'm gonna list 'em so you can understand completely my situation here and why you have every right to be lenient." I sighed. What was with him and listing? "One; We're on vacation, so we're liable to 'let go' as much as our frail unused bodies can take it. Two; I am currently equipped, my friend, with fifty bucks, that's five ten-dollar bills in my wallet, and I wouldn't mind spending twenty right here, right now. Three; _Cakes_, Shikamaru! _Cakes_! Cakes to go, cakes by the _ass-load_!"

I did not dare protest. I recognized his 'hungry' mode, and I'd learned the hard way not to try and halt it. "I'm not stopping you," I said, rolling my eyes. "Take your time, I'll wait around here somewhere."

That was all he needed. He was in that shop in a second, out of sight with his luggage dumped next to mine, which I dropped carelessly on the ground. I sighed, leaning against the wall between _Ayame's_ and the shop to its right. Across the sidewalk I faced a grassy courtyard, with picnic tables, people sitting and slurping their snow cones and ice creams and milkshakes. I tilted my head to the side. They all looked happy, and familiar with each other. And when I looked up, I smiled. The clouds were this perfect, white color. The air was a pleasant lukewarm. The voices from the passing adults, laughter of the children, and chirping of the birds was like music.

Unfortunately, in my life, no perfect moment lasted too long, so of course, next came the pain.

"Ouch!" I said in surprise. It wasn't an awful pain that made me yelp, so I was very calm as I turned my head to look where it was directed. But it _was_ a shock to see the blood coming from a long, deep gash in my upper-arm.

I looked over and found my gaze captured by - carrying a plastic dish holding a cake, the sharp side of which had cut my arm, and looking to be about my age – a girl.

The first thing I noticed about her was her eyes. They were blue, and deep, like two windows to the open, clear sky. I could see_ everything_ in those eyes. It made my heart stop, my breath hitch, and then when it all started over again, it was quick and strange and uncharacteristic. She was pale, her skin used to the sun, and her sandy-blonde hair was pulled into four pigtails on the back of her head. Her lips, perfectly pink, were parted in horror as she stared at my arm.

"Kaumaha! I am so sorry!" she cried. Her voice was low and comfortable, like the sound of waves on the beach, and had a sort of melody to it. I could hear the Hawaiian accent to it, so I knew she was a local.

"U-Um…" Starting to get my feeling back, I quickly snapped to attention and rubbed my arm, wincing and wondering what 'Kaumaha' meant. "That's alri-"

"Here!" Unexpectedly, she threw the cake into the arms of a small, random passing boy and grabbed my wrist tightly with a very soft hand. As the boy scurried away excitedly with the cake, she began to pull.

"W-Wait, what-?!"

"Listen here, _haole_." She suddenly turned around with a very serious expression on her face. "That cake was for my little brother's best friend's sixteenth birthday party, and it was _very_ expensive. I'm giving it up to a snot-nosed _brat_ so I can make sure _you're_ not bleeding your life out of your very muscular arm, so, although I have no right to tell you what or what not to do, I suggest coming along and cooperating unless you want to see me pissed off, and trust me you do _not_, haole!"

I blinked. "…Haole…?" I repeated, bewildered, as she pulled me forcefully and sat me down very violently on one of the wooden picnic tables, snatching up my arm.

"Yes, haole," she said simply. "You're a haole."

"…A…what…?"

"Agh, I am _so_ sorry!" she groaned as she stared at my arm, which was leaking blood in a way that made me feel a little queasy. She was suddenly digging around in her pockets and in her beige shoulder-bag. I used this time to observe what she was wearing; a white tee shirt that was tied in the back so it showed half her stomach, with a picture of a green apple on it, the sleeves ripped off. This was over jeans and black flip-flops. She certainly didn't seem like the average American teenager. "I just wasn't paying attention, I mean, no one usually stands _right there_!" she continued hastily.

"Er, sorry," I mumbled as she retracted from the bag…a roll of bandages.

That was random.

"Don't _you_ apologize!" she snapped as she unraveled some, pushing up the sleeve of my black shirt. "Here, tell me if it starts to hurt too much." She began to wrap it tightly around my arm. It did start to hurt from the pressure, but I'd be damned if I let a woman pity my pain, so I kept my mouth concentrated on other things.

"You…carry bandages around with you…?"

She nodded as she wrapped, concentrating, her tongue stuck out of the corner of her mouth and her eyes slightly cross-eyed in effort. "I raised my little brothers myself, I kinda got used to it after a while."

I nodded almost understandably. Although I wasn't one of them, men were…violent.

"Agh, it's bleeding through the bandages! I'm really, really sorry!" she said over and over again.

"It's alright, it was an accident…" I said, watching as she patted the bandages awkwardly on my arm.

"It doesn't hurt too much?"

"Is everyone here so paranoid?"

She heaved a sigh, finishing with the bandages at last and slipping them in her bag. "I'm sorry, I just haven't ever cut someone's arm so deep before…" she said dramatically, leaning back and gazing upwards at the sky. On her exposed neck I could see a necklace of seashells, shiny and smooth, hooked along a black thread. She noticed me staring and smiled suddenly, looking down to touch them with her fingers. "Pretty, isn't it? I made it myself!"

I had to tear my eyes away from that smile for a brief second; it looked like the sun had landed on earth, causing her to glow. I looked back to her, calming my idiotic thoughts. "Um…it's good," I said honestly. Meanwhile, I had to wonder how she could be so friendly and open to someone she just met. Maybe it was a Hawaiian thing.

Or maybe it was just her.

Before I could contemplate these things, I heard my name being called. "Shikamaru! Hey! Guess what I just figured out!"

Chouji came jogging over, which must've took a lot of effort out of the poor guy, and he stopped, huffing, in front of the picnic table. He looked up, grinning, then his gaze snapped to the blonde. She smiled at him welcomingly. "Hi haole boy."

He blinked, straightening up. "…What'd you just call me…?"

I supposed it was simply 'foreigner' in Hawaiian as she repeated the name. "Haole."

"…What's a haole?"

She seemed confused. "A haole is a haole."

Chouji looked to me, and I pointed to my arm. "She cut me on accident and insisted on wrapping it up."

"Oh." Chouji suddenly got a new sort of competitive spark in his eyes as he glanced between me and the girl. "Well it's _wonderful_ to meet you…?"

"Temari," she said, returning his over-dramatic smile.

I liked the name, for some reason. It was organic, different, and I wanted to say it immediately out loud; the way it would roll off of my tongue seemed like it would be sweet, like the taste of honey or the feel of ice-cold water after a long, hot day.

"Temari Subaku," she continued. "Hau`oli kēia hui `ana o kāua." We stared at her, and she laughed. "_Nice to meet you_," she translated.

"Oh…" I said, blinking as Chouji scratched his head. "You know Hawaiian…"

"Well I live here," she said with a shrug.

"No, I just thought since you knew English…"

"I know numerous languages. The language spoken the most here is English, but we sprinkle Hawaiian in when necessary," she explained kindly.

I nodded slowly. "Interesting." I saw from the corner of my eye Chouji grinning from ear to ear and gave him a glare. "What were you talking about before?"

"Oh, yeah!" Chouji held up a video camera he must have grabbed out of his suitcase, which was still by mine, abandoned on the side of the wall by the cake shop, three plastic cases of cakes piled on top of it. "Culture Credits!"

"…What…?" Temari and I both asked at the same time.

Chouji smirked. "Exactly! Shikamaru, remember Asuma talking about our culture credits before Spring Break?"

I paused. "Yeah, but I don't remember the details…"

"Well _I_ do! We have to create a presentation, showing it in a two months, to our homeroom teachers about a different culture, remember?"

"Okay, I'm following."

"Isn't Hawaii a great start?!" he asked excitedly, gesturing to his video camera. "We can get a head start on it, we'll be ahead of all the others. And come on, a presentation on Hawaii? Definitely something good-looking on your admission!"

I nodded. "That's actually a perfect idea," I said, frowning and rubbing my arm; it was throbbing quite painfully. "But what would we video tape? I mean, a bunch of people walking around won't even prove we went to Hawaii."

"Well…" We both turned to Temari, and she smiled sheepishly at the attention. "One of my friends dances. Would that work?"

My eyes widened. "That's perfect. She does that hula…stuff…?"

Temari laughed. "Yes, she does hula."

"Well when is she free?"

Temari frowned and put a finger to her chin thoughtfully. "Well, she has a class tomorrow…"

"She runs the class?"

"Yep!" She snapped her fingers. "Oh, sorry. Her name is TenTen. She's kinda strange, but she's nice." I doubted I would find anyone stranger than this girl, even in comparison, but I decided to take her word for it and not get myself even more surprised.

"Where does she teach?" I asked.

"How about I pick you guys up tomorrow wherever you're staying?" Temari suggested. "That way you won't get lost. Where _are_ you staying?"

Chouji and I shared a dark look, and Chouji groaned a little. "We're _already_ lost."

"We have no idea where we're going…" I admitted glumly. "We're supposed to be going to _Akimichi's_, but the cab dropped us off at the wrong hotel."

"_Akimichi's_?" Temari asked, eyes wide. I nodded, and she stood abruptly. "I know where that is! Follow me!"

Chouji and I shared a wild glance as she started walking away, then Chouji called, "Wait!" as we ran to get our luggage and followed after her into the crowd.

One thing about Temari I was immediately sure about; she didn't hesitate.

--

"It was here all along…" I said.

We stood, frustration building in Chouji and I in unspeakable amounts, across the street from _Inuzuka's_, at the hotel _Akimichi's_.

We hadn't bothered even looking across the street to see that the cab _had_, in fact, dropped us off at the right street, just the wrong _side_ of the street.

I felt like the biggest idiot on earth.

Temari laughed, seeming a little nervous. I would be too, if I could see our faces. "Heh. Well, um, let's go inside." As we walked, she tried to lighten the mood. "I didn't know Choza had a son," she said thoughtfully.

"You know my dad?" Chouji asked, surprised. Choza Akimichi. I'd met him a few times before when he'd come back to Troy to visit Chouji. He was tall and gruff, and extremely _loud_.

"Well sure I know Choza. Everyone knows everyone," Temari replied. Chouji stared at her in openmouthed bewilderment. I was still trying to get used to her not making sense…

We walked inside the hotel to a small and cozy, brightly lit lobby. There was a round, circular front desk, and besides the sofas and lounge chairs and speakers and random coffee tables with useless magazines sitting on them, the place was empty. Probably because they were all out and about, exploring the small town.

"He should be here," Temari said, leading us over to the front desk. We stopped by it, and Chouji frowned.

"But no one's here," he said.

With no warning, however, Choza popped up from behind the counter and beamed. He had some papers in his hands, which he had obviously been busy putting away under the desk. "Chouji!"

Chouji blinked in surprise, but grinned. "Hey dad."

"It's nice to see you again, and you too Shikamaru. How's Shikaku doing?"

"The same," I said, shrugging. "He's still in India for work."

"Ah, working hard as usual. Good man." He turned and grinned at Temari. "Hey there Temari. Did you help them find their way here?"

"Eh heh…Um, it's a long story…" she said, glancing at my arm guiltily. She changed the subject quickly. "I didn't know you had a son, Choza."

"Yup. He and his friend here are stayin' free o' charge for Spring Break. It's a treat for Chouji's eighteenth birthday coming up soon."

"Oh!" Temari turned and smiled at Chouji. "Hau`oli Lā Hānau!"

"…What?" Chouji and I chanted.

Temari laughed gleefully as Choza leaned over the counter and translated, "That means _Happy Birthday_ in _Pidgin_."

"…In what?" Chouji and I said again, both of us starting to get exhausted.

Temari laughed even harder, and Choza sighed. "A-K-A, _Hawaiian_," he said.

Temari calmed herself with a grin on her face. "Well this is a nice town to take a vacation," she said.

Choza nodded. "They deserve it. It's their last year in High School."

For some reason, Temari found this even _more_ hilarious, for she broke out into laughter in which she had to support herself on the counter.

"She graduated last year," Choza explained to us, watching her with a fond smile on his face. I still didn't get why that was so funny. "Well, go show them to the room they'll be sharing, would you?" Choza suggested, handing her the key card as she calmed herself to short little giggles.

"Heh…Roger!" She held the card between two fingers and was suddenly flouncing away. "What are you two waiting for? Hurry up!" she called bossily back to us, doing a sort of turn in the middle of the lobby so she could give us a glare before twisting around to face the direction she was going again.

I sighed and grabbed my luggage once again. I was already so tired I just wanted to sleep all day long, and Chouji seemed to be having issues with walking so much. We followed her down a plush carpeted golden hall, over to a large room which Temari opened the door to.

I sighed in relief as we walked in. Two large beds, two wardrobes, a TV, a mini-fridge, a round wooden table with two chairs, and one wall was just one, huge glass window with blinds pulled to the side so the sun from the beach view we got glinted into the room, winking cheerfully.

"Nice!" I said contentedly, sitting down on one bed and claiming it as my own as I dropped my luggage to the ground at my feet.

"Impressive room, in' it?" Temari remarked, walking in and setting down the key card on the table. She pointed to it violently. "Don't lose it," she ordered.

"Don't worry, we aren't _that_ uncoordinated," Chouji muttered darkly, sitting at the table and getting his breath back. "Gah, I'm hot…"

"Well what do you _expect_?" Temari asked, giggling in a bubbly way as she crossed the room to the door. She smiled over her shoulder. "Well, I'll pick you guys up at about eleven tomorrow, because her class starts at twelve. Any questions?" She sounded like an Elementary School teacher.

"Can we bring friends?" Chouji asked bluntly. I sent him a glare, but Temari just laughed again.

"Yeah, sure! She's used to _haole_."

"I still don't understand what that means…"

"Well, _I'm_ gonna go buy another cake." Temari waved a hand over her shoulder.

"Aloha!"

_A hui hou aku…_


	2. South

**A/N:** You've all been wondering what "haole" means, and pointing out that Chouji's dad's name is not Inoichi, but Choza; Inoichi is _Ino's _father. This is because I didn't make it clear that "haole" actually means "foreigner", and I mixed the two fathers' names up. I apologize, these things have been edited. A lot of you have also been saying, "Oh boy! Now I know how to say 'blank' in Hawaiian!", but keep in mind if someone from actual Hawaiian decent hears you try to pronounce it, your head will be chopped off and your limbs removed and fed to a homicidal, newborn Chihuahua with rabies. Enjoy!  
**Warning:** Slight Shiho-bashing. Because I can. :D

**--**

April in Her Eyes –  
_Her eyes reflect all._  
_They are sky and midnight blue._  
_They hold clouds and stars._

--

"Look at these, they're _darling_. We bought them at that little stand on the side of the road on our way here."

"They lady selling them was so nice. Aren't they cute?"

I begged to differ.

Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka each held up from their necks a necklace of real flowers, all white, their petals each like it's own separate moon, though soft and pale, circling around a yellow sun core. They weren't _cute_, although I doubted I'd ever find anything _cute_ in the first place. But they _were_ interesting. I had to wonder how they were strung together without falling apart.

Chouji and I had gone out to eat breakfast that morning in a restaurant in the hotel, and since Hawaiian mornings were so pleasant and warm, we decided to eat outside at an iron table, looking out at the beach. Chouji had texted some of the others from our school that had arrived in the same town two days ago (we were only late because we got a separate plane with Chouji's dad's honor), to invite them to have breakfast with us – and to wake them up. Now they were all sitting around us, having dragged their tables over.

First were Ino, Sakura, and Shiho. Ino and Sakura were best friends, and practically similar. Very bubbly, very loud, very girly. But they were nice enough, and one good thing about them was that they got enthusiastic about anything. They never seemed bored when you were talking to them, and they made you feel good about yourself.

Shiho, the girl Chouji kept mentioning, was the opposite. She was quiet, timid, and although she _was_ girly, it was in a different way; she seemed to be terrified of everything, and when she didn't get what she wanted, she'd sulk. Although when she _did_ get it she'd be uncharacteristically smug for a brief period of time in which a person couldn't help but wish she'd get run over by a truck.

"Shiho, I don't know why you didn't buy one," Sakura was saying, and Shiho shifted her glasses on her nose. I guess she was sort of cute, even with the glasses, but her attitude ruined any prospect of attraction on my behalf. Unfortunately she didn't seem to notice this.

"Oh, I don't know. I don't support small businesses, they're usually run down. And don't they seem kind of…_dirty_ to you?" But despite these set-backs, she was Ino's cousin, and Ino would drag her wherever she went; she had a tendency to be a little clingy, a fact that made it fortunate Sakura was also. So the three were sharing a room, staying in a hotel close to _Akimichi's_.

"Dirty? You mean, they're not virgin flowers?!" Naruto Uzumaki burst into a snorting guffaw - the only one laughing, mind you – at his own stupid joke. He was…annoying, to say the least. And a complete idiot. Thing was, he thought he was the greatest thing since Starbucks, and was not afraid to boast it to the world, or at least anyone who bothered to listen without wanting to blow their brains out.

"Would you shut up for once in your pathetic existence?" And there came Neji Hyuuga to save the day. He was a kid with a very short temper. Why he hung around Naruto and went everywhere he went, why he would threaten anyone that hurt the boy very violently, why he was Naruto's best friend, and why he was here rooming with him in _Akimichi's_ and letting him drag him around Hawaii, I would never know. Apparently, Neji used to be a pretty bad guy before Naruto became his friend, so I supposed it was all for the best.

Shiho turned to me as the others began to argue over Neji's comment. "Are you okay?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You look a little flushed. The heat isn't getting to you, is it? Because it sure is getting to _me_, I completely understand. It's always better to eat _inside_, isn't it?"

She had no idea what was wrong with that statement in my frame of mind. I preferred eating _outside_ to sitting anywhere with walls. I felt trapped. Chouji said I had claustrophobia whenever I complained to him about it, but he pitied me, and would go on long walks with me whenever I didn't feel like hanging out inside. It was just as relaxing.

"…I mean, the bugs, the pollen, the rain, it's all better to be sheltered, isn't it?" Shiho continued babbling. "Oh, and not to mention…"

As she went on, I suddenly noticed a pair of blue eyes shining out among the rest.

"Um, sorry…" I interrupted Shiho unenthusiastically, who paused, confused, and turned to see who I was looking at.

Temari stood at the edge of the gate right in front of us, giving Chouji and I a small wave with a smile. I had forgotten the way my heartbeat seemed to pause when I saw those eyes, that smile. "I'm here right on time, I dunno why you two are still eating," she said, and I realized I'd also forgotten the way her voice wrapped me in to her invitingly. She wasn't ticked off at the fact we were still eating breakfast, in fact she was quite pleasant as she leaned against the gate.

She was revealing her outfit to me now as she uncrossed her arms, and my eyes traveled up and down. A very modern, off-white long sleeved shirt, quite baggy and hanging off of her arms, cut off at the shoulders so it had no collar, and this was over a jean skirt and brown boots. Her hair was the same as it was yesterday, and she wore the same necklace. I couldn't understand; all the other people in Hawaii dressed like average Americans. She was…different. But I didn't dislike it…

Ino didn't seem to either, for she smiled. "Oh, I love your hair."

Temari returned the smile. "Thanks!"

"Whoops, did we pass the time limit?" Chouji asked, sounding a little worried. I didn't blame the guy. He'd bought an overflowing plate-full of bacon, eggs, sausage, bagels, and muffins, and he didn't look ready to leave them behind.

"Yep," Temari said simply.

"Sorry," I said, sighing. "We didn't know it would take this long. Want us to go with you and let these guys finish?"

"Nah, that's alright," Temari said, shrugging. "I can wait."

"Thanks!" Chouji cried gratefully, digging in and earning a small giggle from Ino. (Noticing this I made a mental note to bug Chouji about his relationship with her. Revenge was soon to come.)

I gave Temari an exasperated look as Chouji smacked, and when she laughed I couldn't help but smirk a bit in amusement. But when Shiho next to me cleared her throat, I glanced at the others' expectant faces.

"Um…" I gestured to Temari. "This is-"

"I'm Temari, I'll be taking them to see my friend hula," Temari interrupted me, probably knowing she could introduce herself better than I could.

"Nice to meet you," Sakura said sweetly as the others gave small nods and noises of greeting.

"Wow, you _live_ here?!" Naruto asked excitedly.

Temari raised an eyebrow. "Well yeah! You didn't think this was just a tourist attraction, did you?"

"I dunno!" Typical Naruto.

"So you're, like, a native then," Shiho said, eyes widening and leaning forward in her seat. "Interesting, it's nice to meet you."

Temari, however, did not look pleased. She lost the cheerful shine in her eyes briefly at the word 'native', although she regained it soon. "Um, you might not want to say the word 'native' around here," Temari said, lowering her voice and glancing around as if to make sure no one had heard, even though the courtyard we ate in was empty. "People here find it mean."

"I don't understand why," Shiho said, tilting her head to the side. "You _are_ a native."

Temari, I noticed, was starting to look more and more insulted. "No, _I'm_ a local."

"Listen, legally, you're a native."

"_No_, a _local_," Temari said as if that was the end.

Shiho looked like she wanted to start an argument, so it was a good thing the next thing that happened was slightly humorous; a gigantic, fluffy white dog tackled Temari to the ground.

I felt my mouth open slightly in confusion as Temari laughed happily and let the huge creature lick her face while stuttering happily, "O-Ouch! Kiba, get Akamaru off-haha!"

"Akamaru! Bad! Get off 'er! Hey!" Next, a boy who shared the same Hawaiian accent as Temari ran over. He was tan, with scruffy brown hair like burnt cinnamon, and he was in black sweats as if he'd just come back from the gym. The dog obeyed and got off of Temari, who accepted the boy's hasty hand for help up.

Naruto's eyes were huge as he said loudly, "Damn. That is one _big_ dog."

The boy, Kiba probably, looked over and grinned guiltily as Temari dusted herself off. "Aint' e'? I'm so proud of 'im, he grew so much in such little time."

Temari saw Chouji giving Kiba a confused stare mid-bite, and she laughed. "Um…This is Kiba, he's my little brother's boyfriend-"

Shiho coughed. "B-_Brother's_ boyfriend?"

Temari continued, seeming not to recognize Shiho's homophobia. "And that's his dog Akamaru. They'll be coming with us cause Kiba has to give a CD to TenTen."

Ino was staring at the dog, who was panting from the heat, head twisting around to take in the scenery as a bit of drool slid off of his long tongue. "Wow, he's so cute! Can we pet him?!"

"Yeah, sure, go ahead. He's real friendly," Kiba said with a smile.

"Cool, come on Shiho!" Sakura cried as Ino ran over to the gate excitedly and started scratching behind Akamaru's ears, who wagged his tail eagerly. Sakura grabbed her wrist, but she shook her off.

"N-No thanks, I'll pass…" Shiho said, looking scared of the dog that boomed a loud bark in Ino's face, who laughed and wiped some of the spittle off of her cheek.

Sakura shrugged. "Whatever suits you!" She ran over to Kiba.

Naruto grinned. "Hey, Temari, can you speak Hawaiian?"

"You mean Pidgin."

"Huh?"

As the others began to converse, Shiho nudged me in a way that she probably thought was cute. I sighed and leaned down so she could whisper in my ear, "She's strange, isn't she?"

I leaned up. "You mean Temari?" I asked under my breath.

She nodded, the two of us watching her as she spoke to Naruto in Hawaiian, who laughed strangely every time she said a word that sounded like something inappropriate in English. "She's…different. I mean, even the way she wears her hair."

I nodded. "Yeah, she's strange," I agreed. But as I watched her laugh and flick Naruto on the nose like he was some sort of cat, I couldn't help but smile in spite of myself. "But that's what makes her so interesting."

For some reason, that little outburst seemed to shock and infuriate Shiho, who turned away with a huff, and I blinked in surprise, a little unsettled. She sure knew how to freak a guy out…

--

There were two things that might have been inevitable from the moment I landed here. Two things that inexplicably grew on me.

The island itself, and Temari.

We were all in a small building off to the side of a beach. It was the dance studio, apparently the one Temari's friend TenTen worked at. Now, we sat against a wall, watching the dancers. This was a class with five young woman, about my age and older, in a straight line. They all wore the same uniform; a dark red strapless shirt that stuck to them going down to be hidden under a long grass-skirt made from some sort of green silk that flowed around them. Fake leaf haloes were on their heads, and fake grass was in little circlets around their wrists and ankles. Other than that, they were barefoot and void of anything else.

The one Temari said was TenTen was in the middle. They all wore their hair down, long and dark and coarse, and they were all tan, except for her. Her hair was brown, and wavy, flowing down mid-back. She also seemed to be Chinese, as she was paler than the rest and her eyes, although large and very brown, were slanted so. She was, by far, the best dancer there, so obviously she was, as Temari mentioned, running the class.

We'd come in right as the music was starting, some sort of foreign Hawaiian spiritual sung by an unrecognizable young man. Temari had simply opened the door and let us all in, even Kiba and Akamaru, all of us sitting by the wall and watching them as TenTen gave Temari a short wave and started the dance.

Chouji was videotaping them eagerly, and he seemed quite good at it. They were obviously used to tourists here, for they simply continued dancing without care. I sat between Temari and…Shiho.

The others had decided to come as well when Temari - who was beginning to create a nice friendship with Ino and Sakura but starting to infuriate Shiho with her lack of common sense - had suggested it. Neji had come because Naruto insisted he come along, Shiho because Ino and Sakura forced her to come along without hesitation.

The dance consisted of claps, raising their legs and turning around, and even I, who never really cared for any objects of entertainment, had to admit it was very beautiful and graceful. The music was lighthearted, to the sound of wooden gourd drums, bass, and guitar, chants and prayers heard within it.

Ino and Sakura seemed excited, watching with smiles of awe on their faces. Naruto and Neji observed them with much interest. Chouji was pleased, Shiho, well, not, and Temari seemed bored, as if she'd seen this many times before, waiting with Kiba and Akamaru, who Kiba was holding by the scruff of his neck.

The dance lasted about two minutes and they ended in the same position to Ino and Sakura clapping happily.

TenTen, the girl in the middle, sighed aloud as they all ignored Ino and Sakura and relaxed. "Okay, girls, that's enough for today. Good job. I'll see you tomorrow." She waved them off as they all smiled and bid goodbye to each other, laughing and chatting as she opened the door for them to another room in the back, probably where they changed back into their normal clothes then left through another door. " Mahalo, Kela 'apopo!" TenTen called, also demonstrating her Hawaiian accent, before she closed the door. I wished I understood Hawaiian, the feeling of being left out was annoying.

"Ah, Pilikia!" TenTen cried suddenly once the door was closed. She walked over, skirt swishing in the breeze, to us as we all stood and placed her hands on her hips, facing Temari. "Temari, Kiba! Kokua!"

"Help? Help what?" Temari asked. I scowled. So 'Kokua' meant 'Help'. What on earth did the rest of it mean…?

"I was collecting dead spiders last night, and one of them turned out to be alive! It was huge, and it bit me on the back of my hand! Look at that bite-mark! Just, just _look_ at it!" She held up her hand in Temari's face, who blinked and stumbled backwards once. I could see the huge yellow spot puffing up the skin on the back of her hand, and I raised an eyebrow. It looked pretty nasty.

"Yuck?" Kiba tried.

"Yeah! Yuck! And you know what's _worse_?" TenTen leaned forward and hissed to the two, "It _glared_ at me!"

"It what?" Temari asked bluntly.

"It _glared_ at me! I think I angered something! Agh, Pilikia!"

"TenTen…" Temari calmed her down, interrupting her. "Why is this such a big deal?"

TenTen blinked. "I needed those spiders to appease Gaara."

Temari and Kiba stared at her, then stumbled backwards, groaning simultaneously.

"You still think my little brother's a god?!" Temari cried.

"I'm _certain_ of it," TenTen said simply. "He's the god of _emotion_."

"Yesterday you said he was the god of the _ocean_," Kiba said, shaking his head as he let Akamaru trot over to TenTen, who beamed and crouched down to his level, scratching him behind the ears and letting him lick her nose.

"Well anyways, what are you two doing here?" TenTen asked, turning her head to avoid Akamaru's tongue and ruffling his fur.

"Oh, that's right!" Temari gestured suddenly to Chouji and I, who were standing with the rest of them feeling very out of place and very intimidated. "These two _haole_ wanted to videotape you for their school project, if that's okay with you. The others are their friends who wanted to watch."

TenTen looked up and smiled. "Malihini!" She stood and waved at us. "Aloha!"

"Doesn't that mean 'goodbye'?" Chouji asked, blinking as he put his camera away.

TenTen laughed. "Yes! It also means 'hello', and other things as well. I am saying 'hello' right now, though."

"Yeah, we figured…"

"Did you choreograph that?" Ino spoke up suddenly.

TenTen nodded kindly. "Yes!"

"It was beautiful!" Sakura said sweetly.

Ino nodded eagerly. "It was! And it was a lot of fun to watch."

"I'm glad, mahalo!" She paused. "I'm sorry. That meant 'thank you'." Well, at least _she_ understood we couldn't interpret Hawaiian…or _pidgin_. Whatever it was.

"Oh no!" Temari suddenly said. We all stared at her, and she smiled at us guiltily. "I have to go, speaking of Gaara. I have to check on my brothers, they just came back from a friend's house and I'm worried they might destroy something!" She suddenly started running to the door. "I'll see you two later then?" she called as she ran.

"Yeah, say hi to Kankerou for me!" Kiba said.

"Sure thing!" She caught herself at the door briefly and gave the rest of us a smile that practically made me feel weak for a second. My hands felt numb as she called, "Aloha!" over her shoulder.

It was inevitable that smile would grow on me, that voice would grow on me, saying goodbye and hello.

"Enjoy Hawaii!" And she ran from our sight.

I could barely hear Shiho mutter, "Good riddance," under her breath, but I sure heard it, and rolled my eyes, starting to get a little tired of her.

--

I felt like I was going to die any second.

I was sitting at a table squashed between Chouji, who was stuffing down hotdogs by the plateful, and Shiho, who was eating without talking to anyone. Next to her was TenTen, who was in a conversation with Ino and Sakura from across the table. Neji, Naruto and Kiba were busy talking as well. The two groups of three had become fast friends ever since Kiba had suggested taking us to his and TenTen's favorite restaurant for lunch.

The restaurant which - I couldn't help but, pardon the blatancy, freak out about - had no windows.

Every time someone entered the small place, which was just a bunch of stools and tables scattered in a dark room, lit by _candles_ instead of at least some lamps or maybe some sunlight, the door would open and I'd glance at it longingly, seeing the brightness, the greenery, the colors. But then it would disappear again behind the door.

I began to wish I'd never come, and felt more and more uneasy as there was a long break without anyone entering. I tried to calm myself, tell myself I was being an idiot, getting all worked up over a few missing windows, and I exhaled a very long, very slow, and very shaky breath.

Chouji stopped mid-bite and glanced at me. He swallowed and held his hotdog up. "You alright?"

I glanced sideways at him. "Yeah, uh, I'm alright," I said, but my voice sounded weaker than usual. "So, uh…TenTen, how long have you been dancing?" I didn't want anyone to worry about me, so changing the subject quickly seemed to be the best thing to do at the moment.

She put a finger to her chin. "Hmm…well, since I was really little I've always wanted to do it…I only do hula 'auana; modern hula. Most hulas are considered prayers to the gods and goddesses of the Hawaiian islands…"

As TenTen continued, I tried again to calm myself, maybe lose myself in the conversation, but it wasn't working. I kept thinking about the feeling of being trapped, no light, no air…it was starting to get suffocating.

"Shikamaru." I looked up when my name was spoken by Chouji next to me, who looked a tad concerned. "You wanna take a walk?"

I took that as an invitation to get the hell out of there.

"Um, yeah, sure…" I said, standing.

"Wait, where are you going?" Shiho asked, standing as well. "You don't look too good, are you sure you want to go outside? You need air conditioning!"

"I'm fine, I just want to take a walk…" I said hastily. "I'll meet you guys outside."

"Oh, I'll go with-!"

"That's _fine_," I said firmly, interrupting Shiho, and I was out of there in five seconds.

As soon as I got outside and walked over to one of the many courtyards, sitting on a wooden table, I felt myself begin to relax again. I looked around. It was a street near a beach. I could see a trail leading down the cliff we were atop of to the shore, and I thought it best to clear my head if I took a walk down there.

I stood and sighed, beginning my walk.

The island was, well, what everyone said. Hawaii was a gorgeous place, filled with animals of all kinds. I could see turtles on the sides of the roads, mice and rabbits in the parks and courtyards, snakes and lizards. There were tons of fish, I could see them spotting the waves like sprinkles in icing. As I neared the beach, the familiar smell of reef, shells, and wet sand filled my nostrils, the sounds of the many birds in the Candlenut and Coconut trees organic and musical. It wasn't overwhelming, though. It was soothing, in so many ways.

I knew that if somehow, I would be unable to find my way here, I wouldn't be lost. I would be free.

"_Aloha `oe, Aloha `oe…_"

I stopped walking and looked away from the trees lining the brick path I walked. I saw Temari, sitting cross-legged on a bench, staring out at the waves tumbling onto the shore, dancing together and moving over the sand groggily. She was singing something in Hawaiian.

"_`O ka hali`a aloha i hiki mai…_"

Her voice was something other than the birds. It was low, and melodic. The way she sang, it was a mourning song, although her eyes and lips were tilted in a sweet smile as her fingers held in front of her, turning it over and over again, a white flower. I wondered if her eyes, blue as they were could color that flower. Maybe she already saw it colored, as if it was a canvas for her imagination.

"_Until we meet again…_" She suddenly seemed to realize someone was watching her and looked over her shoulder in surprise. She saw me watching her and blinked. "Oh, aloha haole!"

I blinked. "It's Shikamaru…" I said, walking over.

She laughed guiltily. "Right. Sorry." I sat down next to her, watching as she just stared at the flower she held in front of her. "I know you're probably wondering why I'm here…" I nodded, but I said nothing. For some reason there was something about her at that moment I didn't want to interrupt. She sighed. "I didn't really have to check on my brothers…It's just…this time of day, I'm always here…" Her voice faded, then she snapped back to it and changed the subject. "What about you?"

I shrugged. "I felt like a walk. I wasn't really hungry anyways."

"Oh." She fondled with one of the petals that was coming loose, and I asked the question at long last.

"You sing?"

She glanced at me again, seeming confused, then said, "Oh!", and she laughed again. "No, that was just…a sort of prayer…"

"To who?" I asked. I felt a little strange asking her these questions, but I wanted to know. The look in her eyes was happy, yes, but sad. And the way she had sung it had been so lonesome.

She smiled, though grimly, and stared at the flower. "My parents…" I said nothing. I just waited, because I knew what was coming… "It was raining a year ago, and they went out for a drive..." she continued. "The song is a sort of farewell…" She sighed. "But it's mostly sung to keep their memory safe."

"Is memory important here?" I asked quietly.

"Very," she said. She closed her eyes. "As much as it hurts to say goodbye."

I frowned. "You know you don't have to say goodbye already."

She turned around in surprise, and I saw her eyes locking onto mine. No, not locking. _My_ eyes were diving into _hers_. I could see spring in her gaze, every aspect of renewed earth, whether it be flowers or ice. I could feel freedom when I looked into her eyes, like a bird lifting off from a tree.

"You don't have to say goodbye to their memory," I repeated slowly. "Then it'll be like they're still here. Right?"

She seemed to be a mixture of confused and shocked. Had she heard words like that spoken before? I doubted it, from the look on her face. It was funny, almost. But sweet. A moment you couldn't ruin by laughing.

I heard rowdy voices from up above the hill and glanced over my shoulder to see the tiny figures of the others coming out of the restaurant. I sighed and stood. "I'd better go…"

She looked forward, gazing firmly, almost determinedly, at the core of the flower as I began to walk away.

"Aloha."

_A hui hou aku…_


	3. East

**A/N:** Is this story really unpopular because of the pairing, even though it kicks ass? Cause no one's reviewing and it makes me feel like the story might be intolerable. I'm sorry if it is. But whatever, review and read at your own will. By the way, Happy April Fools Day/April 1st/April! I didn't realize this story actually started a few days before April, and a week before my _own_ Spring Break! Heh. Enjoy!  
**Thanks:** Wahine Dancer for the help on Hawaiian tradition. Chapter Two has been edited, I apologize for the mistake. Also thanks to those that did review, it means a lot. :)

**--**

April in Her Eyes –  
_I met her last spring;_  
_when I fell in an idiotic love,_  
_and we watched the sky._

--

I was a straight-A student. I was not a slacker. I studied hard, did my homework, and even managed to get into a few AP courses. I'd gotten top marks on all my essays, and I'd memorized every formula that came my way.

But the surface area and volume of a rectangular prism would not get me to the understanding of why the _hell_ I was bothering to take a walk the next morning.

At five o'clock AM.

Being here only made me feel stupider by the day.

The sunrise was over, the air swept in a nice, cool breeze. I was going to the same beach I'd walked to yesterday, going along slowly, watching the foliage and tiny creatures pass me by and listening to the birds calling out, letting go some built up urge through their beaks. A couple geese were out, sipping the dew from the grass and the soft white lilies whose heads protruded weakly from the pockets of weed. It was chilly, and the streets were empty, so I shrugged my gray hooded zip-up closer.

But as I got nearer to the beach I got more and more used to the temperature, and soon it was pleasantly warm.

Or else it was because I saw her.

Maybe unconsciously, I was simultaneously searching for her. Maybe like those birds I had some uncontrollable urge, or I wanted to know answers to some unrecognizable questions.

But either way, as I walked along the dry sand, seeing the huge waves crash onto the rocks, I saw a girl bending down to the sand near the edge of the shore.

I could recognize her automatically as Temari.

Even with her hair down and wet, she had that thin, built look around her. As she bent over again, collecting something in a small leather, draw-string bag - her hair, golden and twisting from the water, tumbling down to her neck - I found myself ogling her body, trying my best not to let dirty thoughts enter my mind, which was, frankly, impossible. She wore a simple, black tee shirt over a blood red bikini, and she was dripping wet, so it all stuck to her, skin tight. Her skin itself, now that I saw it exposed shamelessly to my inexperienced eyes, was lightly tanned, a sort of white, pale bronze that changed in the dim blue lighting of the morning.

I wanted to see _more_ skin. _All_ of her skin.

Feeling perverted, and furious at myself for thinking something like that, I pushed the thoughts out of my mind. Then, I wondered why I was so upset about it. She was the first girl I'd ever thought…_dirty_ about. And for some reason, I didn't think it would be insulting to her. I just hated the thought of _anyone_, even _me_, thinking like that about her, or even taking advantage of her.

Not her…

Troubled, I decided it wasn't best to sneak up on her, and I cleared my throat. Hearing me, she turned around in surprise, but far from insulted she looked pleasantly surprised. "Oh! Hey, haole!" She coughed guiltily. "I mean, Shikamaru."

I blinked, and laughed in spite of myself, starting to relax again. "Hey. What are you doing out here this early?"

She smiled and held out the leather bag as she walked over to stop in front of me conversationally. "Collecting shells," she said, dumping a few of them into the bag from her palm before tightening it again. "I'm making more necklaces for a few of my friends. I like going out in the morning when no one's here."

"Oh…" I suddenly noticed something strange and, not really meaning to, put a hand out to brush against her neck. Her eyes widened, and I stared at the smooth bare skin there. "Your necklace isn't on," I noted, remembering her own shell necklace. Then I saw the blush on her face and immediately retracted my fingers. But I did so reluctantly; I liked the feel of her skin more than I liked the look of it.

She smiled, though shyly, and said, "Well I didn't want it to get too wet, so I put it in here." She suddenly dumped it out of the bag and held it up for me to see. I nodded understandably.

"You're making them for your friends?"

"Yep. TenTen and Kiba and my brothers already have them, but a few of my brother's girlfriend's friends don't, so I decided I might as well make them."

I blinked. They really were connected here… "It's really nice," I remarked honestly as she put it back in the bag and tightened it.

She looked up and smiled, complimented. "Thanks!" She blinked. "…Would you like one?"

I tilted my head to the side. "Sure, they're pretty cool-looking."

I guess she was a tad _too _emotional sometimes, for she seemed overjoyed when I said that. She gave me this beaming smile. "Okay!"

We both heard a loud rushing sound, and she turned. "Oh, the waves are coming in!"

Indeed, they were coming in, and they were even more gigantic than before. We both stared at them for a while. It was like they were dancing, or the water was reaching towards the clouds, wanting to be connected to something besides the horizon.

Then she turned around again. "See ya later, _hōkeo_."

I raised an eyebrow, confused, as she suddenly ran over to the water, then dived under, swimming into the waves.

I stood there and watched her for a bit as she ducked under a wave, which crashed violently over onto itself, before her head popped up a ways into the water, shaking the water from her eyes and taking a deep breath before diving deep under the water again.

I felt the smile on my lips. It was uncontrollable. I didn't mind.

--

TenTen liked Neji's hair.

She liked a lot of things, but Neji's hair she seemed to be excited over.

She kept pulling on his bangs as we sat outside of _Akimichi's _in the same outdoor cafeteria we'd eaten at the day before for breakfast, sitting on the iron tables right next to the gate. Ino, Sakura and Shiho were, fortunately for me, going shopping, as Naruto and Neji had run into them on their way over to Chouji and I for lunch. They'd also run into TenTen and Kiba, out for a walk, this time without Akamaru, and brought them along as well. Now, TenTen was sitting, right on Neji's lap, playing around with his hair.

That was strange, there was no going against it.

But what was stranger was that Neji did not retaliate, in fact he seemed amused as she talked to him about food and dancing and other things. Temari really had underestimated TenTen's strangeness, but I supposed that was what made her fun, to Neji, who seemed actually interested in what she had to say.

"Ah, I can't get over it!" TenTen declared. "What kind of shampoo do you use?" I couldn't tell if she was flirting or not, but Neji liked it, obviously enough. He probably thought she was adorable. Her hair was in two buns, and she was dressed in an orange tank and jean shorts with bright pink flip flops on her feet.

Neji raised an eyebrow down at her. "The normal kind."

"Hmm…" She sniffed his hair curiously. "It smells like mint…" Then she frowned and leaned in to him. I saw the poor boy's eyes widen as she sniffed his chest, lying her head there. "No, _you_ smell like mint…" she said quietly, thoughtfully.

Neji blinked, then laughed a bit. "Well…" Suddenly he leaned down and sniffed _her_! I couldn't understand it, and Naruto and Chouji seemed just as confused as I was. Was this _really_ some strange style of flirting? "You smell like chocolate…" he murmured, and I could _see_ the blush on TenTen's cheeks.

"Um…Really?"

"Mhm."

And Kiba, meanwhile, was laughing ecstatically with his sharp white teeth. Yup. _He_ was just enjoying every second of it, not seeming to care that the cool, collected Neji Hyuuga, top of the class and very short of temper, was flirting with TenTen by _sniffing_ her. Maybe it was normal here…?

Probably not, judging by the looks the two, whose faces were hidden in each other, got by local passerby.

"TenTen, what are you doing?"

Suddenly one of those passerby, a red-head with dark eyes and a tattoo on his forehead stepped out of the crowd, a tall, muscular brunette boy on his left and a tiny, pixie-like brunette girl on his right.

TenTen immediately jumped off of Neji and gasped. "Gaara! Hi!"

Kiba grinned when he caught sight of the taller boy. "Kankerou!"

Kankerou smiled welcomingly and climbed over the iron gate we were enclosed inside of. He walked directly over to Kiba and sat next to him, one arm around his shoulders and kissing his neck. I remembered Temari saying something about Kiba being her younger brother's boyfriend and realized Kankerou must have been her brother. I frowned. He didn't look anything like Temari.

I also recalled Temari mentioning her youngest brother; Gaara. The one that TenTen seemed to think was a god.

"What are ya doin' here?" she asked now cheerfully.

"I wanna know why you decided to dump a bag of dead spiders on my pillow," Gaara said darkly.

She shrugged. "Thought you might control the ocean tomorrow! Anything you need me to buy for you? A smoothie, an ice cream? I got money!"

"Nah, that's okay!" the brunette girl suddenly chirped. "We just came from lunch looking for you! Didn't know we'd find you at a hotel with a bunch of haole!"

"What the hell's a haole?!" Chouji hissed.

"These haole are cool, Matsuri. And they invited us to lunch with them," TenTen said happily, shrugging and sitting, yet again, on a bemused Neji's lap.

Matsuri looked around at us and smiled. "They _are_ a nice-lookin' bunch of haole, aren't they?"

Chouji cursed under his breath, the rest of us blatantly ignored him. Matsuri leaned against the gate and grinned at us. "Nice to meet you! I'm Matsuri, that's my boyfriend Gaara." She pointed to him. "And his older brother Kankerou." She pointed to Kankerou, who was whispering something in Kiba's ear that made him laugh and punch him lightly in the stomach, an arm tightly around the boy's shoulders.

"Nice to meet you," Naruto said politely. Neji and I both just shrugged carelessly, not exactly good at greetings. Chouji still looked ready to tear his hair out.

Matsuri looked around at us. "So how long have you guys been vacationing here?"

"This is our third day," Neji said, letting TenTen play with his long hair some more. "We have three more days left."

"Really? Do you like it?" Matsuri gasped. "Oh! Oh! Have you seen the beach sunset yet?!"

"Huh?" Naruto's head snapped up, and he opened his mouth wide in awe. "I heard of that! Is it really pretty?! Is it?!"

"Yeah! It's really pretty, it is!" Matsuri and Naruto looked like they had sparks in their eyes. Well, _they_ were connecting.

"Oh, that's a good idea!" Kiba looked away from Kankerou, snapping his fingers. "You guys should come along with us tonight to the nearest beach and watch the sunset! It's not something you can miss!"

"Yeah, and you only have three days left!" TenTen said, combing some strands of Neji's hair between her fingers. "You might as well do it now so you can leave the other nights open in case somethin' comes up, right?"

They made sense.

For once.

--

The day flew by. Chouji and I spent it with Naruto and Neji after TenTen and Kiba had gone off with Gaara, Matsuri and Kankerou and promised to meet us at the beach, a promise they'd fulfilled as we sat on the shore, watching the sky.

It really was beautiful, and I wasn't the type to admit things like that.

The sky _behind_ our heads was this dark, navy blue, a slight purple on the horizon, but facing us directly, stretching over the black, violent waves of the beach, was a painting. It was as if an artist had come and dyed the canvas a dark, orangey-red. The clouds were hot pink. The sun, perched on the edge of the water and the earth and slowly tucking itself beneath us to hell or heaven or maybe just China, spread its rays along what used to be a gorgeous blue and cast long shadows of yellow, making our skin glow. Blackbirds were outlined against the scene, fluttering blindly to find a temporary home. The water reflected them, so all of us were doubled, I noticed, staring out from the sandy shore to the coursing mirror that danced along till it got to the horizon, which connected the ocean and sky like two lovers.

Usually sunsets meant 'last-minute' to me. I was rushed to go home, or rushed to get to sleep so I could wake up and finish a huge test the next day. It wasn't usually so relaxing, it didn't usually give me a feeling that the entire world was resting, ready to sleep. Of course, I still got the same feeling; I wanted the world to stop, just for a moment. I wanted it all to pause.

"Romantic, right?" I resisted the urge to groan aloud as Shiho sidled over meekly. Ino and Sakura had been invited along as well, and of course they'd dragged Shiho with them. Shiho smiled up at me, the sun reflecting off her glasses and blinding my eyes for three seconds. "I've always loved sunsets."

"Mm…" I said unenthusiastically.

She glanced at the others a ways away and sat next to me. I had walked over to sit beneath a coconut tree. The others were running around with some sort of sparklers Kiba had picked up, laughing and trying not to set each other on fire, while Neji and TenTen sat in the sand facing each other, talking and playing with each other's hands while verifying that they were indeed flirting. Kiba was on a cackling Kankerou's shoulders, shouting something at Ino and Sakura while brandishing a sparkler their way, the two of them leaning over in a fit of giggles while Naruto and Matsuri tried to get a motionless Gaara to play along with them.

"They're so immature," Shiho remarked with a fond laugh. She was obviously trying to play the 'big-sister' act. Definitely not working.

"Mm…" I said again.

"So, what's it sound like after Spring Break's over?" Shiho asked casually. "I mean, there's bound to be a _ton_ of tests and long-term projects, like that AP Calculus test. I mean, we'll only have, like, one marking period left…"

She always wanted to talk about school. Was that all there was to life? If so, life was damn depressing, because I had a feeling I was going to fail that Calculus test.

"…and then there's that Advanced Physics test…Oh, would you like to, um, schedule some study time at the library for it? I mean, we definitely need each other's help, and I think together we'll-"

"- 'Scuse me for a second…"

Shiho stopped talking immediately and bit her lip, embarrassed, but I wasn't really paying attention in the first place, so I didn't exactly feel guilty as I began a hike over to the person I saw, sitting on a rock in the distance at the edge of the shore.

Temari was dressed out of her bikini now, in a white knit tube dress, a matching forest-green hooded zip-up over it. She was barefoot, and I saw a white flower like she'd had yesterday in her hair, which was down again but dry this time and very soft-looking, and a matching necklace of flowers around her neck.

When I finally got to her, I could see the necklace of seashells also there, like a choker, hidden beneath the flower-necklace. I raised an eyebrow. She still hadn't noticed me, and she wasn't looking at the sunset, just at the water below her, one foot dangling in it and watching ripples spreading out.

"What're the flowers for?"

Her head snapped up in surprise, and she glanced at me. "Oh! Hey, Shikamaru!"

"You got my name right," I noticed as I sat next to her, smirking.

She laughed. "Yep."

"So?"

She held up the necklace of flowers. "Well, I was just at a birthday party for one of my friends."

"Oh." Feeling brave, I added, "They look nice on you." This successfully got a blush out of her, which widened my smirk. "So what're you doing out here?"

She shrugged, glancing at the water. "Just thinking. I like to look at the waves."

I nodded understandably and glanced at the ocean as well. "Yeah, I do too…"

She smiled up at me. "This is the perfect place for you then, huh?" I laughed and nodded, looking back down at her, and she tilted her head to the side. "So why _did_ you guys choose Hawaii as a vacation spot?"

"Well, most of the people from the class back in High School Chouji and I are in came here, and most of our friends came along too. I guess they just decided to choose the best place they could think of, since it's our last Spring Break and all." I watched the waves wash up lightly against Temari's foot. "And Chouji's dad works here, so he wanted to come." I sighed. "I usually…wouldn't go along with him to places like this unless he really forced me to, but we…have a lot in common regarding our dads…"

"Like what?" Temari asked cautiously.

I looked back down to her and examined her face. I could tell she wouldn't force the answer out of me. I could tell she was being gentle with me, knowing there was something fragile and breakable about this moment that she did not want to shatter.

But I also knew I wanted to know everything about her, and the first step to that was making sure_ she_ knew all about _me_.

So I faced the sunset. "My dad…doesn't live with me and my mom anymore…" I said slowly. "He works off in China for a computer company. It gets us _really_ good money, and he contacts us a lot, but…" I shook my head scornfully. "I can't help but feel kinda pissed. He's always wanting me to follow in his footsteps, and I wonder if that means just ditching your family. I mean, is it supposed to be a _good_ thing to never see your only son graduate, to not be there when your wife has surgery done on her back? Is that what a dad's supposed to be…?"

I closed my eyes briefly. I couldn't remember telling anyone but Chouji this much. But I liked it. As bad as I felt, I felt good as well, and I continued. "I just…hate the fact that he seems to think that being separated from us is so heroic. I think it's cruel. It hurts us and he doesn't get it. And…" I slowed down, realizing I was talking kinda fast. "…and he doesn't understand that we're a separated family now." I opened my eyes again. "I don't think…we'll ever be a family again."

It was silent. I could hear the others screeching and laughing in the distance, I didn't _want_ to know if Shiho was sulking or not (very likely), and I could also hear the waves. They held a certain rhythm within themselves I could barely recognize. They pushed against each other, tumbling onto the sand, the rocks, the shore, the shells, like they needed to be there.

An uncontrollable urge that they couldn't escape.

"Hey, you know…" I turned around in surprise to see Temari leaning back to look up at the darkening, multicolored sky. "In Kauai, we say this: If you see a cloud in the sky and try to see it again a day later, somewhere in the distance, it's impossible." Suddenly, she took the flower from her hair, and then took one of my hands. She opened it and placed my hand palm-up in _her_ palm, then placed the flower in _my_ palm. Her fingers wrapped around mine, closing my hand gently upon the flower. "But if you take a flower and drop it into the ocean, the chances are higher." She demonstrated by dropping the flower into the water below us, and we watched it land, floating lightly on top of the water until it was swallowed by some waves, crashing further out into open water.

"Maybe you should keep your head out of the clouds and come down to earth, Shikamaru. You're not separated yet. There's a horizon, somewhere." She smiled up at me as she held my hand in hers. "I think you just gotta find it."

I found myself captured by her eyes. They were still blue, but, like the sky, they were changing. They reflected the sunset, and glowed a mixed orange color that made me feel weak in the knees. I could see hope in those eyes, I could see change, I could see _freedom_. Two windows to the sky, two open doors to a lift-off from the meticulous _usual_ that kept me chained to earth like an anchor.

They were gone when I closed my eyes to kiss her.

This was one urge I couldn't control. Like the birds and the waves, I just acted on instinct.

Her lips were soft, and they felt perfect pressed to mine as my fingers weaved within hers. We had no reason to comfort each other. Our lives were perfectly average, despite our uniqueness. But we kissed as if we needed it. As if there was no other reason to live. And maybe there wasn't.

I wanted this moment to stay forever, like the sunset. But in my life, just as Temari had proved when she'd first scratched my arm with a plastic cake-tray, nothing lasted forever.

But she was happy as we parted, her eyes searching mine almost curiously. I found myself as I stared right back at her, our foreheads barely brushing each other's, pondering why she tasted to me like strawberries. Someone's lips shouldn't have tasted like strawberries. But a persons eyes shouldn't have made people feel weak in the knees, a person's voice shouldn't have made an almost full-grown want to go crazy.

"Shikamaru! Where are you? It's time to go!"

I winced as I heard Chouji. Did _everything _have to be ruined?!

I sighed and turned back to Temari. "…I'd better get moving…"

She smiled. "Okay, hōkeo."

I smiled right back. "Are you ever going to tell me what that means?"

She held a finger up to her lips slyly. "It's a secret."

"Shikamaru!"

I sighed. "I'll see you around."

She was still smiling as I parted from her, reluctantly letting her hand go last, and I heard her sweet voice quietly bidding me goodbye; and hello. Hello to what, I didn't know. I didn't care. At least it was something.

"Aloha."

_A hui hou aku…_


	4. West

**A/N:** Last chapter of the story! Ironic I write the chapter Shikamaru's Spring Break ends when my Spring Break has just begun. Reviews would be greatly appreciated. I can't improve my work without feedback, after all! Enjoy!  
**Warning:** Shameless fluff. I've never written so much in my entire life. Beware.  
**Translation:** _'A hui hou aku..._' means '_Until we meet again..._'.

--

April in Her Eyes –  
_Sky is in her heart,_  
_rose in her soft, pink lips,_  
_April in her eyes._

--

The next morning, I woke with the contented feeling that I had never had a better sleep. It was dreamless, and so relaxing I woke up smiling. I'd never woken up smiling before, and I even had a hard time pushing the look off of my face.

Chouji was sleeping in, even when I'd gotten dressed after a shower. That was strange. For the past couple days we had been completely opposite, usually_ he _was the one to wake _me_ up in the morning. But I let him sleep, and that's how I ended up walking down the hall and emerging into the lobby at about eight in the morning alone. It was better than five, but it was still damn early.

"Morning, Shikamaru."

I nodded at Choza as he waved a hand over the counter at me. He'd really been great to us this vacation. He lent out breakfast, lunch and dinner, he was always saying hello when we passed. Sometimes I wished my father could be there for me to do the same, but then I remembered what Temari said.

She really had a way of changing your mind, I though, smirking fondly to myself as I walked past the desk.

But then, reminded of Temari, I stopped in my tracks.

There was something nagging my mind...

"Hey, Choza…" I walked over to the counter, and he looked up from his computer.

"Somethin' on your mind?"

"Yeah, can you tell me what something means in Hawaiian?" I asked, leaning against the counter intensely.

He nodded. "Depends if I know it, I'm not exactly an expert on it but I know a majority of things. What do ya need translated?"

I frowned, trying to remember what Temari had called me twice yesterday. "Um…" I snapped my fingers. "Hōkeo."

Choza's eyes widened. "… Hōkeo? Why do you want to know what that means?"

"Long story…" I lied. "So?"

"Well…" Choza tilted his head to the side. "It's means 'Secret love'." I blinked in surprise.

"Secret…what?"

"Secret love. It's a nickname around here, for an object of secret affection." Choza watched me carefully. "You gonna tell me why you're wondering?"

"…No."

With that I was gone.

--

There were many things people expected to be done while on vacation in Hawaii.

Snorkeling. Surfing. Tanning. Luaus. Hulas.

Apparently, my idea of spending my last vacation was walking around the town wondering why/how/when/if Temari could fall in love with me in three days. Definitely not the most fun I'd ever had. In fact, it was the least fun I'd ever had. I'd never been so confused in my life. I kept trying to go over the pros of the situation in contrast to the cons.

So we'd kissed. That was pleasant. She was beautiful, which was more than pleasant. Her eyes were by far the most gorgeous things I'd ever had the luck of seeing. She was bubbly, funny, smart, she could always make me smile or laugh. She had a ton of friends, and they could all vouch for her that she was sweet and loyal. She was single, or so I gathered. And she was obviously environmentally friendly, so that meant not only was there a softy hiding behind her bossy figure, she was nonetheless piteous.

The cons were that I'd met her three days ago, she lived more than one hundred miles away from me, and she had just confessed her love to me…without knowing it.

Maybe she hadn't expected me to ask someone so quickly. Hell,_ I_ didn't expect _myself_ to ask someone so quickly. Or maybe I was so good at making her weak in the head she just acted on impulse and forgot about common sense. But _that_ would have made me seem full of myself…

Nope. Never had I been more confused in my entire existence.

"Temari, hey, cut it out!"

I stopped walking. Why did only her _name_ send me turning my head wildly over my shoulder to look for her?

Fortunately it wasn't just a misconception. I was walking down a trail near the beach, and I could see in the waves Temari and Kiba. Kiba was floating on his back, wincing as a laughing Temari splashed him, chest-high in the water.

I watched as she avoided Kiba and dived into the water, swimming farther off into the ocean, her head popping up a ways away from Kiba, who had twisted around and tried to dunk her. I watched as she swept her wet hair off of her face. I saw her smile as she laughed, making it seem like the sun had sunk to land on earth. I saw her soft hands that I could still feel on my own.

Her eyes were still the same. Two deep pools of blue, which reflected the sky like the water, connected by an unseen horizon. I couldn't understand why they affected me like this, why _she_ could affect me like this. Those eyes, I could see them all the way from here. I wanted to gaze at them all day, every day for the rest of my life. I wanted to see her skin, _all_ her skin. I wanted to hold her small, gentle, soft hands in my own as if she'd disappear if I didn't. I wanted some sort of embrace from her that would mold her into me. I wanted to kiss her like there was no other reason to live.

I loved her. And of course, the one romantic word that came out of my educated mouth the moment I realized it, was a word that could go down in history as the most idiotic excuse for bittersweet simplicity ever spoken.

"Shit."

--

"Choza!"

I didn't care how many people were staring when I finally slammed into the counter of _Akimichi's_. I was panting, out of breath from running all the way there from the beach. It was about nine in the morning now, and as I leaned against the counter, giving breathless glares to those that glanced at me, I slammed a hand on the counter to get the man's attention, who popped up from behind it in surprise, flipping through some papers he'd been bending down to put away.

"Shikamaru, hey. Something…wrong?" He looked me over as I gradually caught my breath.

"Choza…how…" I gulped down some air and calmed myself. Maybe running there wasn't the best thing to do. "…How do you say 'I love you' in Hawaiian?"

He blinked. "Um…why…?"

"I just…wanna know," I said lamely, straightening up and wiping my forehead with my sleeve.

His eyes widened. "…Wait a minute…" He suddenly grinned. "It's Temari, isn't it?!"

"Would you just tell me?!" I demanded sharply. Not admitting anything, but not telling him his hypothesis was incorrect.

He chuckled. "You say 'Aloha au iā 'oe'," he said calmly. "Think you can say it?"

I frowned. "Aloha au iā 'oe," I repeated out loud.

"Boy, don't say that straight to my face," Choza said.

I laughed guiltily. "Sorry, forgot what it meant."

"Are you joking?"

--

So she wasn't at the beach. I'd checked, going straight back there. This left me with the question _where the hell was she now_? How could she and Kiba leave in the short time I'd been at _Akimichi's_?

Well, running was out of the question. I'd gotten enough exercise for the morning. But walking through town looking for her or anyone that knew her was good enough. It was all that was left.

I wished I knew where she lived. The town was small, and apparently everyone knew everyone, but people might have gotten suspicious if I asked what her address was.

Fortunately, I spotted two people that didn't get suspicious about anything; Neji and TenTen. I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk when I saw them. They were at a coffee shop, sitting across from each other at a table, each with a coffee. They looked genuinely happy, smiles on their faces. Neji was laughing at something TenTen had said, which put an amusing pout on the girl's round face.

For sure, I got it through my thick skull at last, they were fucking _flirting_.

"Hey; Neji, TenTen…"

They both looked up when I walked over to the gate they sat inside. TenTen smiled. "Hi Shikamaru!"

"What's up?" Neji asked politely.

"Either of you seen Temari…?" I asked carefully, and I noticed beneath the table their arms angled strangely; they were holding hands beneath it.

TenTen frowned, concentrating. "Hmm…wasn't she at the beach with Kiba?"

"No, she's not there anymore," I said, trying not to be impatient.

"Well, then I don't know where she is. Sorry!" TenTen said, giving me a guilty smile.

"That's alright." Before I left them completely, I said over my shoulder, "Enjoy the date."

Satisfied with their blushes, I walked away with a bit of a smirk on my face. But that couldn't calm my troubled thoughts. I wanted to be just like them, with Temari. They were open, they didn't care who saw them, if maybe they were a little embarrassed when the topic was mentioned openly. They looked happy, and sweet, and like they just belonged together.

They were in love, too.

I chuckled under my breath grimly. How ironic. Maybe if I wasn't so naïve and had realized it sooner, Temari and I could be like that as well. Maybe there would have been more time for us to spend together. But now, there were only two days left, and here I was walking around town carelessly…

Damn it! Where was she?! I _knew_ I would be able to recognize her! I could recognize her eyes anywhere, her skin.

"Oh, hey! Shikamaru, there you are!"

Her voice…

I turned around in surprise and saw Temari walking over to me, smiling.

Of course. _She_ was the one to find _me_. Maybe that's how it was meant to be.

She was holding something in her hands, but I didn't really care. I just looked at her face. I opened my mouth to say something, anything, when she walked up to me, but she suddenly put her hands on my shoulders, and I paused. "Turn around!"

I blinked in surprise. "Huh?"

She sighed, exasperated. "Here." She walked around me so she was standing behind my back, then I felt something slipping around my neck. I looked down and saw a couple spiral shells threaded along a thick, braided rope-like black thread, about as thick as yarn. I turned around to look at her, raising an eyebrow. "It's already finished?"

I noticed the blush on her face as she looked off to the side shyly, hands clasped behind her. "Well, I was going to finish the others, because I started on them first, but…I…couldn't think about anyone but you…"

I blinked in surprise, but smiled fondly. I let my fingers drift below her chin, tilting her surprised face up so I could lean down and press my lips to hers. She wrapped her arms around my neck and I placed my hands on her waist, feeling her body press to mine, which felt amazing mind you. I could feel her heart beat, fast and steady, and my pulse raced to match hers like music, like the songs of the birds.

We just stood there kissing each other in the middle of the sidewalk like a year-old couple, and when we parted I murmured, "Thanks. I love it."

She smiled and settled her head against my chest as we held each other tightly. I didn't care who was staring. It didn't matter. Only she mattered, right then and there, and I'd never been happier because I had her.

"Aloha au iā 'oe…" she whispered suddenly.

I frowned, remembering Choza saying it earlier, then I smiled. "I love you too."

She was silently content for a while, but then realization hit her, and she glanced up at me in confusion.

I laughed a bit. "Choza gave me a lesson in Hawaiian," I explained.

Her eyes changed in horror. "I-I'm sorry!" she said, suddenly taking her arms from around my neck and starting to back away. "You weren't supposed to-!"

"Hey, wait a minute…" I said, and I tightened my arms around her, pulling her close to me. I leaned down and kissed the bridge of her nose. "Did you hear what I said or not?" She was staring at me, eyes startled and confused, and I smiled. "I love you too…" She blinked, eyes swimming with some sort of realization and emotion. I furrowed my eyebrows. "And I'm not your _hōkeo_ or whatever it is anymore, okay?"

She slowly gained a smile, and soon she was giggling. "Okay!"

I was reminded briefly of Neji and TenTen, before leaning down to kiss her again knowing this was _us_.

--

Whoever came up with the 'time flies' theory was a genius. Time was like a damn bird, and I wanted to just shoot it down so it never flew again.

The two days I spent with Temari was like sunset to me. I wanted time to stop forever. We'd gone around, spending time with my friends and her friends. We had a couple outings with Neji and TenTen, which were pretty fun. We spent a night in her bedroom, which resulted in the disappearance of our virginity, something that was somewhat unintended, sort of un-regrettable, and certainly going to be unspoken of around our friends and family. We also got to show off a bit in front of Shiho, who seemed to have this lethal wrath that she took out by stepping 'accidentally' on an innocent, passerby lizard's tail.

But nothing, _nothing_, lasted forever in my life. And so I found myself, way, way too soon, standing in front of _Akimichi's_, staring at the same old taxi cab that had brought me here. Chouji was inside, very tired since it was about four in the morning. Neji and the others had left an hour earlier than us. TenTen and Temari had come with Kiba, to say goodbye, and so I'd gotten to experience Neji and TenTen saying their own sort of farewell before he climbed into his own cab with a sugar-high Naruto.

The others had all been excited that Neji and I had each found a girlfriend in Hawaii. In their words, not only were they both hott, but it was something to brag about back home. While we honestly could have cared less about those factors.

Chouji had been extremely amused when I'd told him. He thought it was the best thing in the world, though, and I doubted he'd ever shut up about it until he got some new bit of news about me some day that he'd drop when something happened to him that I could use as perfect blackmail material.

"Will staring at the taxi teleport you home?" TenTen piped up, interrupting my thoughts.

I gave her a glare, and she skipped away with a giggle. I sighed, and Temari smiled sadly. "Hey, she has a point. We can still talk; we have each other's cell phone numbers, so you don't have to worry. You gotta get in already." But she definitely wasn't letting go of my hand.

I glanced down at her. She was beautiful. Another white flower was in her hair, which was down and contrasted well with the petals. "You know, I feel like I'm five, but I don't wanna leave," I said with a grim chuckle as I faced her directly and pulled a strand of that hair away from her face.

She stood on her toes to kiss me gently. "I know," she said softly as she wrapped her arms around my neck and watched me. Then, she seemed to remember something. "Shikamaru, you know what 'Aloha' means, here?"

I tilted my head to the side. "Hello and goodbye?"

She nodded, smiling. "Aloha means hello, goodbye, and it's also the word for _love_." I was surprised. I didn't know that. "Here, when you say 'Aloha', you're saying goodbye. But you're also saying you love them. And you're saying hello to their memory, and to the chance to see them again." She suddenly took the flower from her hair, and placed it in my hand, wrapping my fingers around it. "We'll see each other again."

I took the flower and opened my palm, gazing down at it. It was gentle, and breakable. Fragile, and beautiful. It held a promise, and that promise would never be broken.

"I love you," I murmured.

"I love you too. Go on."

I let my hand stray on her face for a while, memorizing her eyes as she smiled and waved at me, and then I turned my back on her and walked over to the cab.

I would always remember the feeling of her hands in mine, the feeling of her lips on mine, the feeling of her making love to me. I'd always remember those eyes, the way I could free myself from the world through them, to the April sky.

And I'd always remember her voice saying she loved me, goodbye to me, hello to me. I could hear her call it over to me as I climbed into the cab, before I closed the door on the world that consumed me in colors.

"Aloha!"

_A hui hou aku…_


End file.
